Darkest Pain
by Scarlett-Whitecross20
Summary: The battle has finally come to a close; so the war can continue. But of course, the team has been dealt some... set backs because of it. To which they are ready to deal with; though it doesn't exactly make it easy to watch.


TMNT: Darkest Pain

The pain blindsided his muscles, the air he breathed completely knocked from his chest. The stab of knives and the pound of hammers into his body remained in aftershocks, surging through his body and down his limbs. Suddenly the ruthless torture ended and he heard voices. One being Karai's; the another being Shredder's. The conversation they were having seemed to be drowned out, by the screaming of his own body; begging for relief from the torturous pain his body was now plagued by. Their yells rang in his ears as Shredder's voice stomped away from him. A warm hand touched him, and low voice talked to him; but it was so low all he heard was a garbled mess.

"We can't let them escape!!" He heard Karai shout. He tried to force himself up, but his chest stung his ribs from the inside out. A fire erupting within him, burning his muscles out; making them quit on him. The warm hands dropping on his shoulder and hand, encouraging him to slow down. April's voice came from above him, but he only managed to catch bits and pieces of what she said. One thing he did catch was... "no shape... ...back to the Lair." Next thing he knew, hands on either side tugged at his arms, and a horrible wave of dizziness hit him. The world spinning even through his closed eyelids, a sickening feeling arising within him...

Master Splinter grunted as Donatello and Raphael laid him down, in the main area of the Lair.

"E-..easy, Sensei." Donnie cautioned softly. An approaching moan grabbed everyone's attention and they looked up toward it. Karai and April stumbled into the Lair, they both held tightly to their broken leader in blue.

"Leo?!" Mikey squeaked at the sight of him. Splinter looked up to follow their gaze, as everyone ran to meet them.

"What happened to him?!" Raph asked in horror.

"Shredder happened, guys." April O'Neil replied, adjusting her grip on Leonardo's arm.

"We barely made it out of there with our lives... And Leo." Karai stated, everyone looking to him as he gave another pained groan.

"Leonardo." Splinter breathed.

"Quick, lay him down here." Donnie said, setting a pillow down on the lounge benches, waving to the two girls. Leo grimaced at the intense pain that burned through his body once more in the transition; but he settled as soon as he was down. The turtles and their friends stood back to look at him. Though he looked normal, he clearly didn't feel that way. Leo still clutched his aching midsection, when another hand was laid on top of his hand again. Splinter had heaved himself on his side, to drag himself to his son's side.

"Woah, sensei, uh..let's get that leg properly taken care of." Donatello advised.

"No. Not while Leonardo lies injured." The rat master insisted. Donatello sighed in defeat.

"Well at least let us re-stabilize your broken leg." He said, and Splinter gave him a nod. April knelt by Leo, her hands coming to his shoulder and hand once more. He embraced her touch slightly, almost as though acknowledging her presence.

"What'd he do to him? Beat him up?" Raph asked, cocking his head at his brother in blue.

"More like pulverized him." April corrected, glancing over her shoulder at him.

"So like.. what do we do with him now?" Casey asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"Mikey, grab some ice; maybe we can figure out where it hurts the most." April decided.

"You got it!" The young mutant turtle in orange winked at her, as he got up and disappeared.

Leo could swear something was still standing on him. The pressure on his chest, and the stab with every breath was sure proof of that. He even noticed a tenseness to his neck that wasn't there before, but didn't possess the strength to figure out why; or even to ask someone for help. Then a thought hit him... _Splinter!!_ He attempted to sit up again, but of course his body violently protested. And April's calm, gentle voice, and tender hands, convinced him to lay back and wait for the fiery pain to subside. But then as another breath came in, the red hot blade of an invisible weapon pierced through his chest, running him through at once. Another breath came and with it another horrible stab, each one worse than the last. Leo rived in agony of this seemingly invisible aggravation, and all they could do was watch.

"Leo!" "Bro!" The turtles cried. April attempted to lay him back to keep him still; but to no avail. Splinter, however, seemed to see right into the turtle's body; finding the answer he needed. He quickly drew closer, brushing aside his son's hands, he pressed his fist into Leo's left side and shifted it to left in a swift motion. As soon as he did so, Leo gasped and slowly fell quiet again; to which the team stood there staring in amazement.

"What?- How?-.. How did you do that?!" Donnie gasped, placing a hand to his head.

"His ribs are broken. We must stabilized them immediately." Splinter told them firmly. Donnie took off and returned not long after with his medical kit.

"I must perform the healing hands on him." Splinter said.

"You need to rest, Master Splinter." April told him. "Leo will be fine, we can take care of him until you're well enough."

"April's right sensei." Donnie agreed. "You still have a fever; you need a rest and wait for your strength to get back before you try to do anything. We'll handle Leo as best we can until you're feeling better." Splinter looked from Donatello to Leo, and sighed.

"If you insist." He said, giving in. Raph and Casey then proceeded to lay Splinter down again; while Donnie and April began work on Leo. They pulled him up to a sitting position, trying not to aggravate his wounds. Leo, as expected, groaned in protest; as another wave of dizziness rose up again, pain firing on all cylinders throughout his broken, wounded body. April sat down behind him, holding him up; knowing he was probably too weak to do it himself. Keeping her hands to his shell, Karai stood with her next to him for extra support; as Donnie wrapped his chest. The brainy turtle decided to stabilize his entire upper body, guessing that _that_ was where the most damaged was done.

"Easy Leo." April whispered to him. When they'd finished his chest, shoulders and upper arms were wrapped tightly in white bandages. But as they laid him back down again, he dared himself to try and open his eyes. Unfortunately, when he did so, he found a blurry spinning Lair, and the sickening feeling returned once again; and he leaned over the vomit. Everyone leapt back from him, as Leo then laid back again with another painful groan.

"Well that was just gross." Mikey remarked, earning him a slap from Raph.

"Let's just take care of it." The turtle in red decided dryly. The team then split off. April set the ice pack Mikey had brought on Leo's forehead, and they gave one to Master Splinter as well. Then they cleaned things up a bit and sat down to watch a little tv. Splinter chose not to object; mostly because he felt they deserved it after all that had happened, but also because he did not possess the strength to stop them. All he was worried about now was Leonardo; still lying there in a lot worse shape that he, himself, was. He'd be lying if he said he didn't feel even a little anger towards Shredder, for what he'd done to his beloved son. But he knew not to let his anger blind him from what was most important... that his son was alive and safe; and _that_ was enough for him.

Leo's cough drew the team's attention from the television near immediately. His eyes were barely open, and he finally showed signs of being, somewhat, aware of his surroundings.

"Leo?" April asked, crawling over to kneel by his side. She placed a hand on his forearm, and he responded slightly, then closed them again. The team sighed in despair and dropped their eyes to floor, before turning back to their tv.

Splinter was now able to slowly sit up. The dizziness in his head still there, but manageable for the moment; though only to a small degree. He sat there watching Leo sleep, wanting to help, but knowing that he mustn't yet. The team had managed to recover his weapon from the Under-city as well, and it lay at his side. He shifted his hand to grip it, but then stopped himself to going any further.

"Ugh, when- will it-.. stop.. spinning?" Leo's raspy low voice took everyone by surprise, and they whipped around to look at him again. His eyes were closed, but a hand was raised to his face. The sound of his voice was dry, broken and disoriented, clearly matching his mental state. His wrist was pressed to his eyes, in an attempt to block out the spinning feeling he felt; which still failed miserably. April approached him, and seeing as how his head was laying at the corner of the bench he was laying on, she was able to kneel down just above him. Placing her hands around his head, she focused her energies; her hair beginning to flow in a seemingly nonexistent wind. Then; from her palms, came little circular beams of energy flowing calmly from her hands to Leo's head, in a soothingly kind of way. They all watched in amazement at this, all froze where they were. When the beams died down, April opened her eyes to look down upon him. And to their surprise, Leo's eyes began to open, and he looked up at her with his hollow blue eyes. April's hopeful stare, became a tender grin of pride.

"So.. get the number of that bus?" Leo asked, her hoarsely.

"Heh trust me, you wouldn't want to know it." April joked. "Feeling any better?" Leo gave her a weak, slight smile.

"At least I can open my eyes now." He said, he shifted positions uncomfortably.

"Jstt gale it easy, bro." Raph told him gently kneeling at his side. "You had a tough battle... we all did." Leo smile remained, the tiredness he felt showing all across his face. His eyes wandered off to his right and what's he saw reminded him of something again.

"Sensei!" He cried, thrusting himself up at the sight of Splinter. But as soon as he did his chest stabbed him, the dizziness returning; and he held his head intensely.

"Leo!" Karai and April cried.

"You need to chill out, man. Relax." Raph told him, gently nudging him to lie down again; April there to help as well.

"I am fine, my son. But you, too, must rest." Master Splinter told him. "The Shredder had inflicted much damage upon you. Rest, my son." Leo sighed and relaxed in defeat; cursing his wounded body; desperately waiting for the pain to stop.

Leo sighed, drawing attention to himself. The illusion of sleep shown by his body; but the uncomfortable expression on his face showed otherwise. His hands remained draped over his abdomen, not moving for much. Master Splinter lay sleeping as well on the mat he'd been placed on a few days before.

"It's been three days." April vocalized. "Master Splinter has been doing much batter, but Leo... he hasn't really improved much."

"He was in pretty bad shape." Raph reminded her, crossing his arms. "Shredder messed him up pretty bad. Splinter got lucky."

"Well it took Splinter quite a while to fully recover, after Slash attacked him when he and Rockwell were controlled by Shredder's brainworms control." Donnie pointed out.

"Yeah, well Shredder's a lot eviler now." Casey our in.

"And a lot more powerful." Karai added.

"Exactly." Donnie confirmed. "Which means it may take longer for Leo to heal than Splinter. Cause from the sounds of it,... Shredder beat him around like a rag doll."

"Something like that." April shrugged, gesturing with one hand; and holding the other on her hip.

"No.. it can't be.. you're not here..." Leo stirred, bringing his hands to his face, almost as if blocking attacks being thrown at him. "Shredder!" He gasped; the team hurrying to his side after this.

"Leo; wake up! The Shredder's not here! You're safe! You're in the Lair!" April cried, shaking him gently. The turtle finally shook himself awake, and grimaced at the stabbing pain in his chest; as the panic began to die away. When he had finally calmed down, he just simply laid there staring blankly down; eyes half open.

"I think he's hallucinating." Donatello guessed. "He's seeing things that aren't there." A scuffling sound made them look up. "Sensei?!" Donnie cried in surprise; the others gasping. Splinter was upright standing with the aid of his crutches, wearing a determined look on his face.

"I have waited long enough." The old rat master decided. "Leonardo needs me, and I will stand by and watch this any longer!" The intensity in his voice told them that he was not going to give in this time.

Sitting him next to Leo, Splinter took a deep breath and began to focus. Performing the different hand motions along with the chanting, he glowed that familiar white glow and placed his hands on Leo's chest and abdomen. Feeling his touch Leo closed his eyes, he tensed slightly as he too began to glow. He shifted uncomfortably and sighed. Splinter continued the chant with another, initiating the specific healing in which he desired. Leo groaned and grunted, as he felt something change; struggling to hold still. And then it all ended; the light vanishing, the discomfort fading. Silence falling on them once again. Leo opened his eyes again, and slowly rolled his head toward them; the hollowness mostly gone from his eyes. His vision slightly blurred, then completely normalized.

"How are you feeling; my son." Splinter asked, gazing tenderly down at him.

"Ugh, a lot better than I did a few days ago." The young mutant responded weakly. He shifted his weight onto his elbows, and heavily pulled himself upright; hunching forward. The tails of his mask fell over his shoulder, and he looked up at them with a smile.

"Glad to see you're doing better, bro." Raph complimented tenderly.

"Me too." April smiled, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Thanks guys." Leo told them. "I'm not exactly there yet, but I'll get there. Shredder will never see us coming next time."

"There won't _be_ a next time." Splinter announced. "Not for a while. We are not yet ready to face him again. We must regroup and lay low for a while, in order to come up with a better solution." He turned to Leo. "And you must get well first, my son. We cannot take on the Shredder if even one of us is down."

"Don't you worry, Sensei." Leo responded tenderly. "I'll heal. And in the meantime, we'll come up with a way to finally take down the Shredder." His tone become more intense as he spoke; igniting a sense of determination within all of them, as they prepared for the next step.

~Darkest Pain~

**Hey guys!! Been a long time since I've wrote any TMNT stories, but I hope you guys enjoyed it. And just so you guys know the title is a reference to the episode Darkest Plight, which is when this story is set in. Personally, as a HUGE Leo fan, I was kinda mad that they didn't show the recovery time for Leo when the Shredder beat him up during this episode. And even Splinter, cause I felt that their recovery was majorly skipped. **

**Cause in the next episode we see Leo is fine, and Splinter only uses one crutch meaning the writers skipped ahead substantially. And I really wanted to see that recovery time after rescuing Splinter and helping Leo back to the Lair after his beat-down by the Shredder. But since they didn't show it, I came up with it myself. Hope you guys like it!! Thx!!!**


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